Bye, Felicia

US and Israel are both withdrawing from UNESCO, after one anti-Israel resolution too many.

Indeed, one rightful criticism of UNESCO is that it's abandoned its mission of preserving historic heritage and promoting arts, sciences, and ideas in favor of adopting the hateful politics of many of its members.

Earlier this year, UNESCO designated Hebron as a Palestinian World Heritage Site, despite the fact that Hebron is one of the oldest Jewish communities, housing such sites dating back to the biblical era as the Tomb of the Patriarch, whereas the concept of a  Palestinian nation was invented by the PLO and the Soviet Union in the 1960s. UNESCO has been using these heritage site designations to discredit Israel's indigenous roots and historic presence on its own land, which, coupled with the systematic destruction of the Jewish artifacts on Temple Mount by the Waqf, constitutes a dangerous attack on history itself.

UNESCO, despite having a great potential for promoting intercultural understanding among different countries, thanks to the efforts of such thoughtful and dedicated people as its Goodwill Ambassador Andres Roemer, It's a sad commentary on our society that more people do not openly stand up to and challenge bad ideas and promotion of ignorance, bias, and intolerance when they have that opportunity, and instead prefer to ignore the obvious, dismiss well-founded concerns, and engage in mental acrobatics and apologetics for preserving the status quo.

I look forward to the day when both Israel and the United States can reenter the UNESCO in good conscience, and when the membership in that organization will no longer mean having to contend with a shameful farce, but instead will focus on the meaningful promotion of the world's intellectual development and artistic and scientific accomplishments. Until that time, it is wiser not to contribute to the fray, and not to normalize illegitimate agendas that have nothing to do with UNESCO's mission.